


The Tragedy of Taelpar

by poisonous_panda



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Astral War, Death, Festival, Gen, Tragedy, chocobo - Freeform, taelpar, taelpar crag, tempering grounds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-12
Updated: 2018-04-12
Packaged: 2019-04-22 02:09:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14298459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poisonous_panda/pseuds/poisonous_panda
Summary: Inspired by the datalog entry for the Taelpar Crag (read it before reading this fic). What if Ardyn and Gilgamesh were in the doomed town and Gilgamesh was a casualty of the unaware Draconian when he delivered the killing blow to Ifrit? It would be the seed to start Ardyn's hatred of the Six. After all, how did Gilgamesh end up in the Tempering Grounds 2000 years ago?





	The Tragedy of Taelpar

Taelpar was an energetic town. The birthplace of many traditions. There were always flowers blooming along the streets, food vendors permeating the air with their tantalizing aroma of meats and spices, along with some form of celebration or another gripping the town with it's fever.

Today was one such day.

Ardyn and Gilgamesh weren't sure what the occasion was, all they knew was that upon entering the town they were both gifted with multi-coloured flower crowns and brilliant smiles. Ardyn's black chocobo and Gilgamesh's white one both were assaulted by happy children wanting to pet their feathers - such was the demand that both men were forced to unsaddle their birds in order to get out of the way. Their good-natured steeds did not mind the attention one bit, and cooed happily. There was a crowd chanting merry songs somewhere, but the men couldn't pinpoint where they were among the hustle and bustle in the streets.

There were yellow and white buntings looping from the lamp posts and buildings, all mismatched and not following any sort of coherent pattern; yet the design's haphazard hanging only added to the sense of merriment and joy radiating from the atmosphere. It made a nice change to see somewhere that still enjoyed themselves with festivals and such; with the spread of daemon appearances, the deadly Starscourge from the Meteor that Ifrit summoned and the very Gods themselves at war with one another, it wasn't hard to see why the entire population of Eos were struggling to keep themselves cheerful.

Thankfully, nobody here needed Ardyn's curing abilities, the men were just passing through. They had no designated stop as of yet as no cries for help had reached them, so they were touring Lucis at their leisure until the need for their help arose. Despite Gilgamesh's armour, his mask was removed. He only wore it in battle.

"Seems we have no choice but to partake in the festivities, old friend." Ardyn looks over his shoulder at his armour-clad Shield.

"So it seems," Gilgamesh agreed with a chuckle, looking back at their birds still enjoying all the children's attention. Petals from his flower crown fell into his long white hair, "I would like to sample those meats I can smell."

Ardyn rolled his eyes playfully, "Always thinking with your stomach!"

"A finely tuned soldier would do well to keep muscle density fed." Gilgamesh replied with a smug grin, acting like he had swallowed a textbook. Ardyn just raised his arms at the elbows and shrugged with a smirk, smiling at his dear friend.

Navigating their way through the crowded streets, Gilgamesh pointed out a meat vendor he wanted to buy from. With a quick nod from Ardyn - as any spoken words would just get drowned out by the celebrating residents - they both made their way over.

Ever predictable, Gilgamesh bought the sandwich with the most different types of meat in it - it was a running joke that Gilgamesh would be the sole reason a lot of cattle animals went extinct with his ferocious appetite. Ardyn was just as equally predictable ordering a slice of the sweetest looking fruit-filled pastry, dusted with icing sugar. Gilgamesh had long since stopped bothering to tell the soon-to-be King that he'll lose all his teeth if he didn't watch his sugar intake. Not that it did any good, Ardyn would just wink and exclaim how all the women in Lucis would still want to warm his bed even if he was toothless, to which Gil would just sarcastically roll his eyes.

The battle-hardened men enjoyed their snacks on the side of the road as they watched the celebrating crowd writhe with glee; people walking in all directions, others dancing to jovial bagpipe music coming from who-knew-where... honestly Ardyn and Gilgamesh still didn't know _what_ the occasion was, but it didn't stop the swelling joy in this town being infectious.

The pair were grinning at each other over the din of the town as some of the meat in Gil's sandwich fell out of the end of his baguette, and Ardyn had icing sugar around the corners of his mouth sticking to his stubble when the ground beneath them literally shook. The quake was so violent that people were falling over - and if it wasn't for Gilgamesh's quick reflexes, Ardyn would have fallen backwards into the food vendor's cart.

Then all of a sudden it was like time stood still.

The crowds all simultaneously halted and a collective gasp echoed from every mouth - some children had even begun screaming. With Gil's hand still clamped on his bicep to prevent his earlier fall, Ardyn followed their gaze heavenwards. What he saw caused his gut to knot.

High up in the sky, clearly miles away but still close enough for the figures to be instantly recognizable, Bahamut and Ifrit had began their battle anew.

Fireballs blew in every direction up there as Ifrit tried to burn his former comrade - but thankfully none landed near Taelpar - while Bahamut was aiming his crystalline swords - a much more massive version of the power he had bestowed on the Izunia brothers - at his traitorous brethren. 

The battle truly was a sight to behold. Every clash of the God's swords caused the very air to vibrate, and the people could only imagine what had happened earlier to cause such an earthquake.

Bahamut was gaining the upper hand in the battle and landed a few slices on Ifrit's fiery skin. As the Infernian tried to block an onslaught of crystalline weapons, Bahamut closed in and smacked the God of Fire square in the forehead with the hilt of his enormous sword. The impact caused Ifrit to temporarily lose consciousness and he fell heavily from the sky by a few hundred feet. Regaining his senses, giant wings of flames exploded from the Infernian's back to help him stay afloat. He flew in the opposite direction of the God of War - and towards Taeplar, to the townspeople's horror despite the Gods not even seeming to notice the town - to put some distance between them so he could summon a barrage of fireballs to rain down on the Draconian; scorching the earth itself when they missed their target and rained down to the ground.

A few fireballs started landing too close to Taelpar's borders. A few women screamed when the mini meteorites made impact with the earth because it caused the ground to shake; although not as intensely as the first mysterious quake.

It was only when Bahamut swooped down on Ifrit that the townspeople really got frightened, as his crystalline weapons began to rain down on the outside of the town as they missed their fiery target; the warring Gods were so close now that everyone could even see the intricate designs of Bahamut's armour, yet the Gods still seemed oblivious to the town's existence. 

That was it, panic had gripped the public like a hive mind and the people scattered in all directions; all sense of familiarity in their town lost to them in their hysteria.

Suddenly, there was furious squawking within the panicked crowd as two ruffled and grumpy-looking chocobos made their way back to their equally disgruntled owners. The men were thrilled to see their birds were unharmed. Ardyn was the first to grab his black companion's reins and saddle up.

"Gil we have to protect the people!" he commands his Shield, his sunshine eyes glowing in determination.

Wordlessly Gilgamesh saddles his own bird and they both take off in different directions to hustle the crowds out of the town and far away from the border. Both men knew the crowd would be exposed in the surrounding open fields, but they could not remain here as the oblivious Gods continued their battle.

It took a while, but Ardyn's reputation as a revered Healer preceded him, so the public were quick to heed his and his Shield's instructions. 

As they ushered the last few groups of people into the lush surrounding farmland, both men gave subtle nods to each other. They were to go back and quickly sweep the small town to ensure all residents had been relocated.

Several times on their way back, as they drew closer to the deserted town, their chocobos nearly lost their balance as they tried to avoid flaming meteorites and giant crystalline weapons that were still raining down from the careless Gods when they missed their targets. Thankfully the steeds were well trained, and they all made it back to Taelpar in one piece.

In perfect synergy, the friends split up again to sweep the town and - satisfied there was no unfortunate soul left behind - they rendezvoused at the town's entrance.

Conveniently, the battling Gods seemed to have pushed themselves backwards from whence they came. The silence was eerie after all the screaming and thudding from the battle.

"My... they certainly know how to crash a party don't they." Ardyn dryly laughed atop his bird.

"They could be more careful with their blows, Almighty or no." Gilgamesh commented. The muscular man was a fan of clean battles, there was no need for collateral damage if you're a skilled fighter in his eyes. Ardyn just gave him a look from the corner of his eye; despite Gil's obvious distaste for the God's destructive and somewhat sloppy fighting, he knew better than to badmouth them. 

"Perhaps. Shall we return to the townsfol-" Ardyn's words were cut short.

A blinding white light suddenly enshrouded their vision, causing both men to squeeze their eyes shut against the brightness; they both even raised an arm each against their faces for extra protection. Their chocobos began squawking and whimpering in pain as the brilliant light burned their eyes, and they threw both men off their backs onto the ground. There was a horrific roar, animalistic and filled with rage, but neither man dared to open his eyes to locate the source.

When the light outside of their eyelids subsided and their chocobos quietened, Gilgamesh peeked out first and climbed to his feet.

"What in the world was that?" he asked to nobody in particular, looking around the streets.

"Up there!" Ardyn suddenly answered, still lying on his back sprawled on the ground while pointing high into the sky and towards an unremarkable looking mountain.

Above the mountain, Bahamut and Ifrit had finished their battle.

That was because, to the men's stunned surprise, Ifrit had been cleaved in two by Bahamut's giant golden sword.

"That... is something you don't see every day." Ardyn remarked as he slowly got himself off the floor and dusted himself down.

Neither men scolded their spooked birds for throwing them off, the men were just grateful that they were trotting cautiously back towards them. Honestly, the Healer and the Soldier wouldn't have blamed them if they had completely scarpered and never returned.

Just as suddenly as the first mysterious quake started earlier, a second far more stronger one ripped through the region - and just like earlier Gilgamesh was the only thing that stopped Ardyn falling on his face. 

But, unlike the first quake, this one didn't stop.

Both men grabbed the reins of their respective chocobos and clumsily saddled up as their birds bounced from foot to foot, nerves got the better of them in the shaking terrain. 

"Sire we _have_ to get out of here!" Gil shouts over his shoulder at his liege-to-be.

"Then let us make haste old friend!" Ardyn shoots Gil his best reassuring smile - it always was Ardyn's favourite coping method, either smiling reassuringly or cockily smirking, even if the world was going to hell. Like right now.

There was a deafening crunching sound west from the town's entrance; and it was getting louder. And closer.

The men looked over to see what the commotion was all about, and both widened their eyes in fear. 

Several miles from Taelpar, there was a giant crack in the ground speeding it's way towards them and the doomed town.

"It's the energy from Bahamut's killing blow! He's cleaving the land in two!" the dutiful Shield yells over the noise, panic finally beginning to register in his wise voice.

Meanwhile, high up above and in the distance, Ifrit's corpse slowly descended onto the top of the mountain - it probably wasn't that slow, but from how far the Gods were from the Taelpar town proper, everything seemed in slow motion - and the most naturally impossible thing happened.

As Ardyn and Gilgamesh ran through the deserted streets of Taelpar - past upturned food vendors, abandoned toys and celebratory tidbits lying on the ground as well as general trash on the ground as expected from a festival - with the giant split chasing them and wracking the land with a massive unrelenting quake, Bahamut watched his fallen comrade crash on top of the mountain. As the Infernian's corpse crashed into the summit, the land beneath him seemed to literally _melt_.

Bahamut flew out of range as a deep rumbling - inaudible to Ardyn and Gilgamesh as they made their way east out of Taelpar to escape the sickening grinding of the land as it was continuing to rip itself apart from the strength of Bahamut's killing blow - rose from the crater in the centre of the mountain that Ifrit had crashed into.

Ardyn and Gilgamesh made it to the eastern exit of Taelpar and stopped slightly out of the boundary of the town, just in time to look up and see an almighty lava eruption explode from the crater and momentarily cascade through the air.

While his eyes were glued on the pixie-like Shiva who had suddenly appeared with her many doppelgangers to freeze the makeshift volcano mid-eruption, Ardyn felt a powerful shove to his back that caused him to somersault over his chocobo's head and land on his stomach on the grass, and he groaned loudly as the wind was knocked from his lungs upon impact. The bird herself took the movement as signal to run as fast as she can in the direction of the shove, until she was no longer in sight and heading towards the displaced townsfolk who were still - thankfully - out of harm's way.

Mesmerized by the Glacian's display of power from his spot on the grass, lying on his stomach and propped up on his elbows, it took the squawking of his Shield's chocobo and a rare deep scream from the man himself for Ardyn to twist his body and look behind him - just in time to see Gil and his bird get swallowed in the widening crack of the earth as it sped past Ardyn's legs, continuing it's way towards the eastern part of town.

The quakes died down as the giant tear sped away from Ardyn and the giant dust cloud that had arose with it. The battle weary Draconian and the benevolent Glacian had vanished from sight, leaving only the massive scar in the earth and a newly formed albeit frozen volcano as testimony to the death of the Infernian.

Gil's last move had been to save his would-be King from certain death.

Turning on his belly then rising to his knees to peer over the vast expanse beneath him, Ardyn was half hoping he would see Gilgamesh and his chocobo either clinging to a ledge or even sprawled at the bottom.

But no such luck.

All the Sage could see was darkness. Vast, empty and never ending. 

Gilgamesh - his Shield, his protector, his best friend - was gone, undoubtedly lying dead somewhere in this abyss. And Ardyn would never see him again.

"Gilgamesh!!!" he screams into the void, ragged and panicky as his fingers dug into the grassy soil over the lip of the abyss, yet all that answered him was his own voice echoing back.

Ardyn felt tears sting his golden eyes. How could he possibly carry on his mission without his faithful companion? Gil was far more than just his Shield, he was Ardyn's adviser and emotional support. His best friend. And he had died doing his job of protecting the Healer of the People. How could Ardyn possibly continue a quest bestowed upon him by the Draconian when it was the lizard himself who had stolen Ardyn's only friend, the one who helped him shoulder all the hardships?

Ardyn smirked darkly and scoffed to himself through the tears.

"Oh look at me, what would you say? Probably tell me something along the lines of 'A good Healer would...' as if you were the authority on all roles." Ardyn bitterly laughed to himself, although the tears began to fall freely and he made no attempt to wipe them away.

Calmly getting to his feet, brushing his hands together to remove the clinging soil, he placed his forefinger and thumb into his mouth to whistle and summon his stead, Ardyn took two steps forward so the toes of his boots were over the lip of the giant crevice.

"Rest easy old friend, your duty is done." Ardyn tipped his head slightly in both acknowledgement to his friend's fate, and his farewell.

There was some gentle kwehhing behind him as his bird arrived behind her master. Turning his head to look into her gentle black eyes, Ardyn reached a hand up to stroke the side of her face with the back of his fingers. She leaned her head into his hand and Ardyn gave her a genuine yet watery smile.

Silently saddling up, Ardyn took one more look at the massive crack in the earth that had killed his friend before yanking on his bird's reins, commanding her to go full speed ahead - directly south of the newly formed gigantic crevice. 

His destination was the Draconian's temple. Before he continued his mission, he needed to have a little chat with the God of War.

High above, totally out of human eyesight, the Glacian was levitating among the clouds; her white-blue skin almost glowing in the dying sunlight. Down below, she watched the Sage ride on chocobo-back and traced the dust clouds the giant bird kicked up as she streaked across the terrain. The Frostbearer could not tell the wine-haired man, but her heart was breaking for him. He was a Healer to the people, but the Six knew him as something else.... 

"The Accursed".

His role was not only to heal the populace, but to contain the Scourge; become it's Source. The 'death' of his friend was only one of many tragedies he would soon face. For Gilgamesh however, in reality he had a fate far worse than death.

But Ardyn would never see him again.

Such was the will of the Gods.


End file.
